Paul Kurtz has been recovering from heart surgery and I think he already has a position with AHA. Not sure. He’s the first person that comes to my mind though. Dawkins is British, so he’s not in the running as far as I know. How about Victor J. Stenger?

http://uncrediblehallq.blogspot.com Chris Hallquist

If we want to keep up the Asimov-Vonnegut tradition of literary figures, Salman Rushdie jumps quickly to mind.

Or, what about Bill Gates? Don’t know if he would agree to it, but his high-profile charity work would make him a nice choice.

In any case, I like the idea of having someone who’s built a reputation for something other than atheism. After Rushdie and Gates, I’d start looking at prominent scientists who are not mainly known for their atheism.

Prokop

A joint presidency between Penn & Teller would perhaps be interesting.

http://atheistself.blogspot.com David W.

I’d also thought of Salman Rushdie — but I also really like Steven Pinker. Maybe James Watson?

What about Ron Reagan Jr.?

http://www.humaniststudies.org Matt Cherry

I’ve been thinking about this too. It needs to be a household name, but I really, really hope it’s not just another ancient white guy. Even Gates — a middle age white guy — would be a big improvement. But an Uma Thurman, Jodie Foster or Whoopi Goldberg would be better yet. There is also the option of finding someone who is less of a name but more likely to be active on behalf of the AHA. The wonderful Julia Sweeney perhaps. Matt

Brett

Hemant Mehta!

Does anyone have a link to good stats on demographics on self-described Humanists in the US? While I know many other groups are represented, it seems that the ancient, white, well-educated males are quite abundant. Maybe that’s why the honorary pres’s in the past have been that way?

Mriana

The problem with the U.S. stats concernig those who self-describe as Humanists, don’t always admit it openly.

Hemant would be a good replacement. So would Whoopi for that matter. 😀 I like those choices.